Midnight
by hortus-deliciarum
Summary: Tension runs high in the wizarding world as Voldemort's secret rise to power continues. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione go missing, public fear and dread escalade. Is the Daily Prophet wrong? Is Voldemort back? *Time Travel fic*
1. I

I don`t own any of the characters or places.

**

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[Summer right before 4th year, Hermione is 14.]**

CRACK. Hermione awoke with a start. She emerged from her covers and froze, listening for voices or footfalls. Reaching for her wand, she slipped out of her bed and slowly crept across the dim room of her childhood, searching for the source of the sound. It had sounded like someone apparating and she was certain it heralded bad news. Something brushed against her leg and she recoiled, before realizing it was only Midnight, her cat, barely visible as its obsidian tones melded with the shadows in the room.

Hermione stiffened as she suddenly heard murmuring outside her room. Someone was in the hall! Midnight darted to the bookshelf near the door, nimbly clambering to the top, and sat poised as though she was waiting.

"Check that room, kill whoever occupies it, unless it's _her_." The chilling voice outside her door was like ice water dripping down Hermione's spine. It was the baritone voice of Lucius Malfoy. Hermione knew she had think fast; had to hide before someone opened the door. While she wouldn't have suspected them to break into her home, it wasn't much of a surprise that Voldemort was coming after her. Hermione looked around the room in a panic. There weren't much options…in the closet, under the bed, behind something… The window! Hermione knew it was her only chance. She dived out the open window just as a Death Eater opened the door. The room was empty.

The Death Eater turned at the sound, but saw nothing. The bed, unmade, had the unmistakable air of being recently vacated, but nothing else was out of place. He walked into the room and stopped. He could feel her presence, though he knew not where she was. Hermione held her breathe as she lay directly under the windowsill. She would have preferred to move from her vulnerable position – all he had to do was stick his head out the window and look down – but having landed amidst raspberry bushes, she wouldn't be able to move away without being heard. Hermione opened her eyes. She had to get out of there. Slowly, she shifted herself slightly every few seconds, pausing whenever the leaves around her shook. She would hold her breath and count to ten before moving again. As the Death Eater lurked in her room, Hermione managed to inch herself into a crouching position beside the window, where she could see in. She hoped the translucent curtains would shield her from view if the Death Eater looked outside.

"_She's smart, I'll give her that,_" the Death Eater thought, "_but she knows it's over. You can't change the past._" He stood in the centre of the room and slowly turned, scanning the shadows for his mark. Soundlessly he gambled over to the closet and pulled open its double doors. Hogwarts uniforms, crisp and ready to be packed hung at one end. Hermione's trunk was tucked on the floor beneath them. Summer dresses, light sweaters, and other miscellaneous clothes hung above two pairs of running shoes and a shelf holding decorated shoeboxes and three years' worth of Hogwarts textbooks. But she was not there. He turned around and dropped to his knees, looking under the dresser and the bed. He stood up and froze. The soft thump was the first noise he had heard since entering the room, aside from his own breathing and the cracking of his knees when he knelt. And there, bathed in the moonlight that came in through the open window, was a cat.

He swallowed, knowing this was why he had come. The cat made no movement, but focused its amber eyes on the Death Eater. He gripped his wand tighter, the feline's stare piercing into him and depositing threads of fear foreboding. He twitched his wand and muttered, causing a shadow to appear above the cat. Still, Midnight did not move. She continued to gaze up at the Death Eater, the glow of intelligence subconsciously unnerving him. Lucius appeared at the doorway and smiled coldly at the sight before him. The shadow looked like a dark glow as it began to grow. The black orb began to transform and three pairs of eyes stared unyielding, transfixed. Midnight sat unconcerned and closed her eyes. The orb seemed to take on a shape like that of a ebony drop of syrup poised to fall from an invisible spout. As the drop neared Midnight, the base became hexagonal. When it would have touched Midnight, it went right through her, becoming both transparent and blacker than the night sky. The hexagon completely enclosed Midnight, and the top of the drop split into two, the lower part becoming a rounded dome on top of the hexagon. The dome had a square hole in the top. The other part of the now-split drop had become a sphere, hovering completely still directly above the square. Midnight opened her eyes and caught Hermione's glance through the part in the curtains. Simultaneously, the sphere dropped, becoming a arrow-ended knife and sticking into the entrapment. Hermione stifled a gasp as Lucius chuckled. The handle of the knife was square where it met the blade and merged into a circle at the other end. The end of the blade looked like an arrowhead, pointing directly at Midnight.

"The Dark Lord will be pleased." Lucius said to the other Death Eater, who merely nodded before tearing his eyes from the raven-coloured enclosure. While no longer glowing, it seemed to radiate shadows; chills that one could only feel. Lucius picked up the cage by the knife's handle and with another CRACK, the pair of Death Eaters were gone.

Hermione didn't move until she was certain they weren't going to return. She climbed back in through the window and stood at the spot where Midnight had been. She sat down and remained there, statue-like, until dawn.

**

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(January during 6th year, Hermione is 17, Harry is 16, Ron is 16)**

_(2.5 years later)_

"The Golden Trio…at long last." A cold high-pitched voice rang through the air. The January wind nipped at their bared necks, but it wasn't the cause of the shivers running up and down their spines. Hermione whipped around and silently cast a shield charm around them as Death Eaters began to appear. Apparating and stalking out of shadows, they grouped and encircled Voldemort and the opposing trio. Harry and Ron rose their own shields and glared coldly at the hooded men around them.

"Don't. Do anything," Voldemort commanded his Death Eaters. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. Haven't I, _Harry_?" He directed his last question at Harry, who balled his fists in silent retort.

"Well then you've been waiting a long time only to be humiliated again! You won't win in the end." Ron cried angrily, his face beginning to grow red.

"Oh? Perhaps I'll leave you disillusioned. Avada Kedavra." He flicked his wand with an air of nonchalance and a flash of green light hit Ron squarely in the chest. He crumpled to the ground, the magical shield having weakened from his outburst.

"Ron!" Hermione cried in anguish, resisting the impulse to run to his side. The Death Eaters laughed.

"Aww, is the wittle mud-bwood sad?" Bellatrix's cruel high-pitched voice rang out from the darkness. "Did the big, bad Dark Lord hurt its pwecious bwood-twaitor?" Hermione whipped around in a fury, trying to find where Bellatrix's voice was coming from.

"Leave it Hermione! This is more important!" Harry said anxiously. She forced herself to turn her back to the circle of Death Eaters and once again face Voldemort. She tried to focus all her anger and pain on the snake-like man and on keeping her guard up.

"Before I kill you, I think we'll have a little fun. Shall we?" Voldemort extended his arm out to Harry in a mock courting gesture. Harry glared at him and remained motionless. Voldemort chuckled as though this had been no less than he expected. "I guess I'll just have to bring the show to us. Have a seat, Harry, Mudblood." He conjured up chairs underneath Harry and Hermione and their knees buckled in surprise. They fell onto hard-backed wooden chairs as the Death Eaters made a foreboding opening in their circle. With another flick of his wand, Voldemort lit a small fire near the edge of the circle. It illuminated Bellatrix as she pranced into the circle. Her wand was held high in the air and she was cackling in maniacal joy. Behind her, Hermione could only see an indistinguishable silhouette of something levitating six feet off the ground. Harry gasped. It was Sirius, bound tightly by thick black cords.

"I think you'll recognize our little guest." He paused for dramatic effect. "I have a proposition for you, Harry." Harry forced his eyes away from the floating form of Sirius to the blood red orbs of his opponent. He resisted the urge to spit at Voldemort's feet. "We can do this two ways…but only because I'm in a good mood. You and I are going to fight and I am going to defeat you. You are nothing but an indulgence…a way to show to the wizarding world how powerful I am…killing the "Boy-Who-Lived", the "Chosen One"…the Daily Prophet's been racking it in with all these articles about you. I look forward to proving them wrong. But not yet." Voldemort began walking around Harry and Hermione, who had been magically bound to their chairs when they tried to stand. "You remember our last little get-together, don't you Harry? Tonight we will duel again. However, I'm going to give you two options. You can have an advantage. I'll let you, Black, and the mudblood fight myself and one of my Death Eaters. Three against two…how can you fail? Ha, how can you not? Or, you can give your friends a chance to survive. They are free to go and instead, you and I will duel alone. My Death Eaters will not partake, but they will watch as I finally kill you once and for all!" Harry sneered at the last part, but looked thoughtful nonetheless.

"Harry, don't do it!" Hermione cried. Harry glanced at her, his expression pained.

"I have to. You know what the prophesy says. It's either me or–"

"Harry James Potter! You will not decide what I will do! I promised I'd help you until the end, until it's over."

"This is the end. One or all of us will be dead by morning. There's nothing you can do. You and Sirius need to go and alert the Order." Hermione pleaded him with her eyes. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she looked over at Sirius. He was absolutely still. The night was silent as everyone listened to the exchange in anticipation.

"I hate to break it up, Loverboy, but your time is up! What do you choose?" With a smouldering glare, Harry took a deep breath.

"Let them go." He whispered.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch –"

"Release them. Let them go." He said again, a little louder.

"You'll have to speak up for everyone to hear."

"LET THEM GO, dammit! It's going to be just you and me."

"Harry, no!" Hermione cried. Voldemort smiled in vicious delight. He flicked his wand upward, the bonds releasing Harry and Hermione from their chairs. They fell to their knees as Bellatrix carelessly dropped Sirius heavily to the ground. He jumped to his feet immediately, ignoring the ache in his back. Voldemort stood in front of the fire, his body a mere black shape, outlined by the brightness of the fire.

"Black…Mudblood…you are free to go. For now." Voldemort said haughtily, dismissing them with a demeaning wave of his hand. Bellatrix looked disappointed, but Sirius and Hermione didn't move.

"Get out of here!" Harry shouted.

"We're not leaving, Harry." Sirius shouted back. He held his wand ready.

"Harry has made his decision. If you choose to remain here, I really don't care. Let's all watch Harry Potter die. Be warned, however, that if you try anything, all my Death Eaters will joyfully join in the duel as well, and your chances of survival will plummet." Hermione stiffened. She moved over to Sirius' side, crying silently. Sirius lowered his wand, though his grip on it tightened. "Very well. Harry, let's begin. And properly this time…bow to me." Harry, remembering the battle from fourth year, bowed reluctantly as Voldemort did the same, somehow managing to look both gracious and condescending. "And now…we fight!"

At this Harry moved. He ducked behind the chair Voldemort had conjured and cast Expelliarmus over his back. Voldemort laughed, the coldness in his voice sending shivers up the backs of the Light. The chair exploded. Harry cast jinxes back at Voldemort who deflected them lazily.

"I'm not one of your little schoolmates. Crucio!" He said, pointing his wand at Harry, who stiffened, but could not bear it out. He stumbled and fell, writhing on the ground. Fire licked his bones and Hermione shrieked in surprise. Then it stopped and Voldemort paused, grinning like a cat, until Harry stood up again. "Crucio!" he cried again. Harry felt as though everything inside of him was white-hot. His scar felt like it was being split open with scalpels and he tried not to make a noise. The pain stopped again and he rolled over to the other chair and aimed his wand at Voldemort.

"Crucio!"

"Protego!" Harry's curse recoiled back at him as Voldemort laughed again. "Not playing around anymore? I must say, I'm quite disappointed in your lack of initiative." Harry glared up at him and then "jumped" back as the chair in front of him exploded like the other one. Harry stood up and raised a shield around him. "Hmm, let me think…"

"Sectumsempra!" Voldemort's robes tore open as Harry's curse hit him across the chest. "Sectu –" Harry flew onto his back from the immediate blow of Voldemort's spell.

"You didn't think you'd get me twice, did you? Now I intend to finish you. Say your last words, Potter." He intoned furiously. He cut the air with his wand wordlessly several times, each stroke making a deep gash across Harry's chest.

He glanced back at Ron's body, and then at Hermione and Sirius. Sirius was both holding Hermione up and back, as her body threatened to collapse and her mind was forcing her to go join in the duel. He met Voldemort's eyes once more. "May God have mercy on your soul." Harry spat viciously.

"I don't believe in God, Harry. If anything, I am God." Harry glared at the creep once more, who rolled his eyes.

"You know, the whole glaring at me thing is getting kind of old." he said. "Oh well. Goodbye. Avada Kedavra!" He whispered the curse tentatively, excitedly, almost as though _daring_ it not to work. To his great delight, the familiar flash of green light exuded from his wand and collided into Harry's broken body.

"Nooo!" Hermione and Sirius screamed. Their agonized duet sparked laughter among the circle of Death Eaters. Sirius immediately apparated him and Hermione away, their last sight was Voldemort gloating over Harry's body.

"Sirius! Let me go! Why didn't you bring back Harry's body?" Hermione pounded Sirius' chest with her fists, doing little damage to the man towering over her. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her still and eventually she stopped struggling.

"Hermione…Hermione…do you think they'd have really leave us alive if we had stayed any longer? There's nothing we can do for Harry now. It's us we have to worry about, Voldemort's won."


	2. II

I don't own any of the characters or places.

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Previously:_  
"Nooo!" Hermione and Sirius screamed. Their agonized duet sparked laughter among the circle of Death Eaters. Sirius immediately apparated him and Hermione away, their last sight was Voldemort gloating over Harry's body.  
__"Sirius! Let me go! Why didn't you bring back Harry's body?" Hermione pounded Sirius' chest with her fists, doing little damage to the man towering over her. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her still and eventually she stopped struggling.  
__"Hermione…Hermione…do you think they'd have really leave us alive if we had stayed any longer? There's nothing we can do for Harry now. It's us we have to worry about, Voldemort's won."_

* * *

"Come on, we have to get inside. We're not safe on the step." Sirius opened the door and whisked them in. As soon as the door closed, footsteps sounded toward them. They whipped out their wands and saw Molly Weasley approaching, wand at the high.

"Hermione, Sirius! Where's -" She was quick to notice their tense bodies and red faces, but Sirius interrupted her.

"Molly! What did I say to your mother that made her not speak to me?" Sirius shouted. Molly screwed up her eyebrows as she remembered.

"You said "I'm invited and I'll park my damn motorcycle where ever I please. Shouldn't you be attending to the bride rather than interrogating starving guests?" she quoted. Sirius nodded grimly and lowered his wand. "Oh! Come in, we're in the middle of a meeting...I, ah...you have news?" She asked, wringing her hands. They made their way into the kitchen, where the Order was seated around one end of the dining table. All heads turned their way, taking in the conspicuous lack of the two youngest members. Molly sat down in the empty seat next to Arthur and glanced nervously back at Hermione and Sirius.

Hermione looked at Sirius. She knew it had to be said, but she couldn't force the words out. Sirius took a deep breath.

"Voldemort, he...it's over. He's won. He's killed Harry and he's won. He's won. It's all over now." Professor McGonagall gasped, as did the others. Moody stood up and walked to the fireplace.

"Someone needs to inform Scrimgeour." He said gruffly, stepping into the grate. "Ministry of Magic!"

"And Ron?" Hermione blanched. "What about him? Where's my sooonnnn-" Molly began to weep onto her husband's shoulder. Fred and George stood up and left the room. Kingsley and Lupin exchanged defeated "Now what?" glances and Tonks's hair turned black.

The fire turned green again and Percy Weasley appeared.

"The ministry's fallen! – They've – k-killed killed the minister!" He was panting and heaving. "Barely managed to escape – had to run."

"What about Alastor?" McGonagall asked. "He just left." Percy walked to Moody's vacated seat at the table.

"Yeah, he told me to – leave. Told me – to "get to my family"." Mrs. Weasley stiffened and there was a pause.

"O-ohh Alastor..." She sobbed.

"What's going on! Did something happen? What happened?" cried Percy.

"Harry and Ron have been murdered at Voldemort's hand." Dumbledore explained. "Now, we must begin sending owls. We have no idea how long until the news gets out. We have to find out what they're going to do." He stood up when suddenly there was a blast in the hallway. Dust and wood flew by the doorway...someone had just blown up the door. Everyone exchanged nervous, wary glances as they stood, wands aloft.

"I've always wanted to do that." Sirius muttered.

"Oh _Siriussss_...guess who's come to _pla-ay..._" His eyes widened.

"Bellatrix." He spat.

"WHAT? But I thought we're _untraceable_! I thought we're _hidden_!" Hermione's voice went higher and near hysterical. "How do they KNOW WHERE WE ARE!" Sirius ran into the hallway, Lupin right behind him. The others rushed around the table towards the hallway.

"Stupify!" cried Sirius. Bellatrix sidestepped the red light, giggling.

"Do you think it's that easy? Huh _Siri_? Do you think I'm the only one?" Her voice lowered. "They're all coming. here. now." Then she laughed loudly and twitched her wand. The wall between the hallway and the kitchen blew up. The explosion of dust and debris distracted everyone as they tried to dodge chucks of wall and pipe. The noise crescendoed when Death Eaters began to apparate on the steps and rush in, curses on their lips...Crabbe...Goyle..Malfoy and Dolohov...Wormtail...Macnair and Fenrir Greyback... The cracks echoed as dark-cloaked man after man appeared. The Order retreated into the kitchen and living room, whle retaliating at the Death Eaters.

Antonin Dolohov and Fenrir Greyback teamed up against Lupin. Greyback was swiping and clawing at him as Dolohov put Tarantallegra on his feet and cast curses wherever he tried to step. Lupin danced and stumbled, barely maintaining his balance while he tried to block Greybacks advances. He'd summon cushions and books and paintings - anything he saw around him in the living room - to fly between him and the other werewolf's ragged nails. Every so often, he'd alternate with poorly-aimed stupfies at Dolohov or Greyback, but his cursed feet continually cause him to miss.

On the other side of the room, Tonks and McGonagall were battling Alecto and Amycus Carrow.

"Ah, pr'fess'r...I hope t'Dark Lord lets _us_ control t'school...I know exactly what I'm gunna do..." Amycus leered at McGonagall as he advanced. "Sectumsempra!" McGonagall dodged, but not fast enough. Her left arm was sliced and she gasped in pain.

"Stupify!"

"Hah, scared t'use anythin meaner?" He taunted. He bumped into Alecto, who managed to glare at him while sending a volley of curses and hexes at Tonks.

"Protego! Protego, protego, protego!" Tonks cried. "Did it ever occur to you that dueling a young auror in the top standings was a bad idea? Gelatodigitous! Confundous! Incarcerous!" Alecto dropped her wand and grew a confused look on her face before cords flew out of Tonks' wand and wrapped around her body, pulling her arms tight against against her abdomen. Tonks grabbed her wand before turning to help McGonagall with Amycus, who had continued describing his deplorable visions for the school.

"...and as soon as I can get int' the headmaster's office, I'm gunna to _burn_ tha' stupid hat! And all students will be Slytherins!" He laughed evilly. "Defodio!" The purple curse gouged a hole in McGonagall's stomach and she fell to the floor in pain. Blood gushed out, almost black, and soaked through her blue robes.

"You BASTARD!" Tonks cried. "Deprimo! That's for McGonagall! Duro!" She blasted the ground under him and as he fell, the second curse turned him into stone. "And _that's_ for all the students! Confringo!" The stone Death Eater exploded.

"BITCH! Stinkin' spawn of a blood-traitor! I'm going to kill you!" Alecto screamed from where she was laying bound. She struggled against her bonds, but could do little more than squirm.

"Silencio!" Alecto's mouth moved some more and the hate in her eyes was no less evident. Tonks grabbed a piece of the wall that had exploded and chucked it at Alecto's head, knocking her unconscious. Sometime since the Death Eaters arrived, the wall between the hallway and the living room had been blown apart, resulting in a huge indoor battlefield , strewn with pieces of the wall and destroyed furniture. The long oak dining table was laying on it's side in the kitchen; Hermione and Percy were crouched behind it, casting hexes towards the overturned couch in the living room. Behind it, Draco Malfory, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe were kneeling and hurling curses back at them. The fireplace turned green and Snape's face appeared in the grate.

"Albus -OH!" Just as suddenly, his face vanished. Snape flooed to the Burrow. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny looked up at him in surprise.

"There's a battle at Headquarters! Go help the Order!" The Weasley's ran for the fireplace.

"Number 12 Grimmauld Place!" Bill arrived in what used to be the kitchen and beheld the chaos. He saw his father dueling Lucious Malfoy on the far side of the living room. Half-bent over, he ran across the room. Charlie arrived seconds later and followed Bill, trying to avoid the crossfire: the junior Death Eaters vs. Hermione from the living room to the kitchen; Sirius and Bellatrix, who were still at it in what used to be the hallway; the Carrows vs. Tonks and McGonagall, who were dueling between the fireplace and their father. When the fireplace flashed green again, Draco shot a stunner at it. Ginny barely managed to avoid it by dive rolling behind the table.

"Ptero-mucu-magna-impetus!" Ginny cried. Goyle felt the wrath of his own winged bogies, and the battles went on. Molly was casting curses at Wormtail in a corner of the kitchen beside Kingsley, who was battling Macnair.

Suddenly a loud noise like a caterwauling alarm sounded. Two figures appeared at the door: Voldemort and Gellert Grindlewald. The room was silent.

"Avada Kedavra!" Grindlewald cried. Kingsley dropped. Voldemort took in the scene around him and laughed.

"So...the great secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix...is no longer great...and no longer secret. Now why is that, I wonder?" He laughed. It was obvious that he knew exactly why. Dumbledore stiffened and everyone else's skin prickled...everyone except the Death Eaters, who laughed loudly with their Lord.

"Maybe, my Lord, there is a traitor in the midst." Bellatrix drawled, striding up to stand next to Voldemort. "Maybe someone..._let slip_."

"That's not possible." Dumbledore said, standing up from behind the pile of bookshelves and remnants of a desk, where he had been crouching. "I am the Secret Keeper. Only I could reveal the location." The Death Eaters laughed again.

"Are you so sure you did not?" Voldemort asked, condescendingly. "How else would we be here?" Members of the Order exchanged glances. No one _could_ tell anyone else the location. Only Dumbledore. "Let me tell you a story," Voldemort began. "Once upon a time there were two very powerful young wizards, who happened to live in the same town one summer."

"Tom. Don't do this." Dumbledore pleaded. Grindlewald and Voldemort only smirked.

"And these wizards struck up a friendship. In the end, though, it didn't go over very well. One wizard left and became famous for his so-called "evil"" Voldemort made quotation-mark motions with his hands as he spoke. "deeds. The other also became famous and later on he set out to stop the wizard who used to be his friend. And he won. This wizard was Dumbledore."

"What does this have to do with anything?" a distraught Molly shouted.

"Shut up!" Macnair growled. At the same time, he stepped over and slapped her to make his point.

"The other wizard, as you should all be aware, was Grindlewald. Grindlewald ended up imprisoned in Nurmengard for a very long time. But as you can see, _he got out_. He escaped...and who did he go to afterwards? To Dumbledore. He sent Dumbledore an anonymous message, saying to meet him somewhere." Dumbledore frowned. _But no one showed..._ "Then they met. Grindlewald was able to convince Dumbledore to believe that he had changed. Dumbledore agreed to give him a second chance. Dumbledore told him all about the Order."

"No!" cried Lupin. "He didn't!"

"I didn't." said Dumbledore. "No one showed up. I waited for hours."

"Of course you don't remember." Voldemort purred. "What do you think Grindlewald did next?"

* * *

Uncommon/Unfamiliar Spells:  
Gelatodigitus - Jelly Finger Hex (canon incantation unknown)  
Defodio - gouging spell (canon)  
Deprimo - blasts a hole through target (canon)  
Duro - turns target object into stone (canon)  
Confringo - Blasting Curse (canon)  
Pteromuco Magnaimpetus - Bat Bogey Hex (canon incantation unkown)


End file.
